Saturday, March 17, 2007

Eating of the Green

March 17th. It's a proud day for the Irish is it not? Since I'm half Irish, I get to really enjoy St. Patrick's Day. Corned beef and cabbage isn't my idea of the perfect food for the day. I go with the venerable potato. In this case, it's red potato with a little chopped parsley for the mandatory green. But the real eating of the green today is the asparagus. This is the perfect green food for the St. Pat's Day: Green or Irish event hosted by Kochtopf

Now I'm not going to tell you that the asparagus is native to Ireland, although for all I know it is. What I am going to tell you is a great way to prepare this quintessential spring vegetable.

Wash the spears well, then snap off the woody end. Alternately, you can peel the woody ends back to where the stem becomes tender. This will give you a bit more spear, but it's a lot more work. The snapped ends could be used, if you are so inclined, to make a asparagus broth as a base for soup. I'm afraid that I just toss mine into the compost pile.

Next give the spears a light drizzle with olive oil. I use a Meyer lemon infused olive oil, but I used to use regular EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and some garlic salt before I discovered the lemon infused stuff, so I know that will work beautifully.

Get your grill going. We now use a gas grill, but used to grill with charcoal. Thses lovely green spears cook up very quickly, so keep an eye on them. Grill them until just tender, turning once to bring the less cooked side down to the grill.

These can be enjoyed hot off the grill, or as part of a cold plate afte they ahve cooled off. They are great both ways, and, if not overcooked, are a beautiful St. Patrick's Day green.

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